Discipline and dismissal

An employee has protection when he discloses a workplace crime (The Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000 (PDA)). And it's there to make sure all employers and employees disclose any criminal acts in the workplace. As well as any irregular conduct.
And you have a responsibility to a whistle-blowing employee... You can't punish or dismiss him for this.
If you dismiss an employee for doing this... ››› more

It doesn't matter if you're right and have a watertight case... If you don't appear at the CCMA to defend your case, there's a very good chance the commissioner will rule in favour of the employee. And you'll lose!
Let's look at a case where this happened...
The case in question
Pierre Gerard Baillache v Lesedi Nuclear Services (Pty) Ltd [2008] JOL 22512 (CCMA)
The facts:
... ››› more

One of our readers, Thandi*, landed in hot water recently. She dismissed an employee for insubordination.
The employee was going to a meeting in Pretoria. Thandi asked him to deliver an important package to a client in Midrand on his way.
But, the employee refused. He said he's not a driver and he won't do it.
Thandi dismissed him for insubordination.
After taking her to the CCMA, ... ››› more

When disciplining an employee, describing the allegations correctly is very important.
Not doing so could lead to you losing at the CCMA in the long run.
And you might be wondering what you can do if you realise, during a disciplinary hearing, that you should change your allegations so they're more accurate. For example, you may realise the allegations aren't properly described or the evidence... ››› more

Desertion is when an employee is absent from work or he fails to return to work after an authorised period.
He doesn't call or leave a message explaining his absence, or even if he's going to be returning to work.
This could potentially cause major headaches for you as an employer trying to ensure your business is running as smoothly as possible - with your employees attending work and co... ››› more

Control within your business is a must and you need to enforce discipline.
Any behaviour that makes up misconduct should be dealt with swiftly, yet in a fair and legally compliant manner.
Having said that, there are five actions that DON'T count for disciplinary action.
So take note! They are:
1. If an employee reports your infringements of the law to the relevant authorities;
... ››› more

We recently had an employee damage a really expensive printer in the office. He jammed a piece of plastic into it, while trying to get it to work. It cost the company more than R6 000 to get it fixed.
I'm sure you've had a situation in your company where an employee has damaged or broken company property. And I'm sure you'd love him to pay for it.
I'd like to show you how we got the employ... ››› more

With all the fines and changes to labour laws, you're probably too afraid to even say 'boo' to an employee without worrying about being taken to the CCMA.
But today I want to dispel some of the urban myths about dismissals so you can confidently get rid of employees without worrying about facing an unfair dismissal case!
Keep reading to find out what they are...
Eight urban myths about d... ››› more

I recently sat down with our labour law expert, Lizle Louw. I couldn't believe the number of labour cases she deals with weekly.
She told me, many of her new clients (employers like you) are being taken to the Labour Court by their employees.
And one of the reasons they end up fighting costly labour battles, is because of disciplinary policies and procedures. They don't have a company discip... ››› more

By general definition, 'hearsay' is understood as being information that canno't really be proven. It's often heard by someone else and so can easily amount to nothing more than rumours.
For example, hearsay can be when person A heard from person B that pPerson C did something.
But hearsay is presented as a form of evidence, however weak, during discipline.
In a disciplinary enquiry, hear... ››› more

Entrapment is when someone lures another person into committing a crime and is for the purpose of building evidence against her.
South African Labour Courts look into the evidence you gather from entrapment. But only if you used entrapment to prove an act that the employee would have committed anyway.
According to the case of 'Department of Public Works v Public Service Sectoral Bargaining ... ››› more

A Texas fast food restaurant fired the store's manager after an armed robber made off with $400. On 31 March 2015 he came in and demanded she open the cash register, and he ran off with the cash.
After this traumatic incident, the employer said she had to pay back the money. She wouldn't pay the money back, and they dismissed her.
As you can imagine, this has raised more than a few eyebrows.... ››› more

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